A V A T A R: The Lost Arts: Part 1  'Blue Planet'
by BenignViewer
Summary: A modern A:TLA AU in our world, the Lost arts follows the journey of our heros as they strive to stop Ozai and his Dynasty from conquering the world, all the while rediscovering the lost arts of bending... Follows A:TLA's basic storyline. Ch-2 now up!
1. Ch 1 'The Boy in the City'

** Avatar: The Lost Arts **

**Part 1 – 'Blue Planet'**

_Foreword: This is a modern AU, the chapters are adaptations of the A:TLA episodes, set around a fictional world war, loosely based off WW-II, just more modern and different countries… But I don't want to give too much away, the history will all become clear as you read. This idea came to me after reading __**Dearing**__'s _'A.V.A.T.A.R. - The Last of the Black Core_', and I give him credit for being a large source of my inspiration for this story. If anyone hasn't that story I highly recommend you do!  
This story however is my own and takes place in a hatch of the Avatar world and ours... Can't say any more I'm afraid, but it does pretend that the fire nation never invaded (The A:TLA story from the show has never come to pass – yet) again, I don't want to give too much away, all will be explained. Oh, and all the characters are older – Aang 16, Katara 17 and so on, pretty much the same age gaps. Again, this will all be explained in the story, so enjoy!  
Sorry for Toph fans, but she does not feature in part 1, like book 1 of the show, so if you wanna see some modern AU toph ass kicking read and review this to convince me to continue for Part 2! ;)  
_

_I own neither A:TLA or anybody else's work. Please note that there will be references to real places and historical events, (like the holocaust and cities and such) these accounts are all fictional and in no way reflect real life. Some may be offensive to some people, so please don't flame me for this._

_Rated _(M)_ for violence and themes  
(No sex content planned – I will notify if this changes)._

_So thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy the ride!_

~BENIGNviewer~

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**[Chaper 1] - The Boy in the City**

The sun rose spectacularly over the City skyline. Tall skyscrapers rose all around as the new age continued to develop. The streetlights flicked off as the morning rays touched them, and the roads began to buzz with the sound of motor vehicles taking people from place to place at speed. Hot air balloons were a thing of the past, Steam power ancient technology in this day and age. Somewhere far above the engines of a plane roared, carrying passengers from one side of the world to other, over oceans and mountains, above the clouds. Not even the stars were sacrosanct, the moon bearing the footprints of mankind. Technology grew apace, and yet as people tried to open their minds outwards, they closed them off from themselves. What was once history became myth, and myth became legend, and some things which ought not have been forgotten, were lost.

Cracking an eye open he looked at the world around him. The sun kept rising, the world kept turning. It all seemed so… pointless. Picking himself up off the sidewalk which had been his home for the night he trudged on. The suns rays reminded him of the beauty in the world, the clouds lighting up in brilliant hues of orange and pink. Then the sun rose a little higher and the brilliant spectacle was shadowed by the gargantuan buildings above. The shadows brought solitude along with the chill air, and as much as he sought out exile from his pain, he felt the loneliness and guilt from before eating at him. He glanced up at the sky once more, but couldn't see anything beyond the dark and oppressive buildings. Setting his eyes forward, he focused on the here and now, his next challenge, surviving. Only he was beginning to question what for.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

The street looked foreboding in the dark gloom of the city, but then everything did. The shadows of the tall buildings loomed over everything, Day was little more than an extension of night, with only the dawn and sunset lighting the world up. Above swirled the dark clouds of pollution, but no one seemed to care. It was all in the name of progress these days, and she felt sad that so much was being given up for something so pointless. Yet they built the buildings ever taller, the factories ever larger, and the walls ever higher.

"Katara!" the irritated voice of her brother startled her from her reverie.

"What is it?" she replied with the same tone.

"Are you helping with the shopping or not?" he grunted.

"Helping? I'm _doing_ the shopping Sokka! What are you doing anyway?"

"Trying to find us some fish" he grunted, looking over a shabby fishmongers stall.

"If you could even call _that_ a fish" she said, disgusted. "Besides, I already got us some, from the supermarket-"

"What? No no no, that stuff isn't real fish! It's all processed; they probably don't even put meat into it!"

"Sokka, it's a fish!" she said exasperated. "What are you going to do, catch your own?"

"That's a great idea!" he said enthusiastically.

"No you idiot, it's not, by the time you manage to snag an old boot we'll be starving and I want to eat tonight."

"Fine" he huffed "But really I think-"

"-No" she cut him off.

"What? Every time I have an idea you have to go and shot it down, you're just a girl after all what do you know?" she sneered disdainfully.

"What do you mean, 'just a girl'?" If Sokka had of been paying more attention to his sister he would have recognized the danger in her tone, but he was too caught up in his latest idea to realize.

"Exactly what I said, you're just a girl. What would you understand about providing for our family, or more importantly fishing?"

Katara didn't know what to be more affronted by, the fact that her brother thought she didn't provide for their family, or that he thought fishing was more important. "You…" she trailed off, her temper tying her tongue momentarily "You are the most sexist arrogant jerk I have ever had the embarrassment of knowing! And in this day and age!" she screamed at him.

"Hey… Calm down" he said placatingly, but she was having none of it.

"No! I will not just 'calm down' until you see some sense! I look after you and Gran day in and day out! I wash your clothes, cook your meals and clean the house!"

"But that's what you're supposed to do…" Sokka said, evidently not getting what she was so worked up about.

"I don't believe you sometimes! I cannot comprehend how I'm related to you!" She swung her arms behind her in frustration her emotions running wild. Somehow she managed to crack a water pipe running down the side of the building beside her. The pipe drained water from the gutters of the building above, and just so happened to be full, spraying Sokka with water from where it broke.

"What was that for!" he spluttered, indignant and confused as to how Katara had drenched him.

Katara just gave him a pointed glare before stalking off, not thinking about the incident beyond the savage pleasure of getting back at her brother for once. Leaving him behind she rounded the next couple of corners without even paying attention to where she was going.

"Stop right there."

~~ A V A T A R ~~

The voice was smooth yet hard, not as deep as her brothers, but neither did it crack or squeak as Sokka's was prone too. "What?" she said, more surprised than afraid as she turned to face the voice's source. That was before she took in where she was.  
She was in a dark and narrow alley, and there in front of her stood her assailant a wiry boy who looked about her age. They were almost par on height, with perhaps him looking up at her the slightest bit from where they stood, maybe ten feet apart.

He didn't look in any way phased by their height difference and desperation clouded his warm grey eyes. He was blocking the only exit she could see from the alley and to all extents and purposes he looked like any other youth that roamed the streets. His clothing was rough and tattered, yet he held a long an elegant staff of some sort, which was an uncommon weapon for a mugger.  
"What's in the bag?" he demanded, sounding sure of himself, yet at the same time… _reluctant?_ She couldn't be sure that it wasn't wishful thinking on her part.  
She looked down at the bag in her hand, which contained all the supplies she could afford, which her family desperately needed. Her common sense was screaming at her to just hand over the bag to him and run, but then what would happen? She would end up in the same state as the boy across from her.

He seemed to sense her reluctance, and held his staff out in front of him. "I don't want to hurt you" he said so softly she could barely hear him, and despite the situation she felt herself welling up with sympathy for him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked carefully, meeting his eyes again.

"Please" he whispered, not answering her question as his grey eyes locked on hers in return. In their depths she saw a different sort of desperation. His was a desperation to survive yes, but also not to, he seemed aware of who he was, who he had become, and hated it. He looked conflicted against his will to survive, and she felt for him.

"Katara!" a loud yell echoed through the alley, and behind the boy appeared the solid form of her brother. "Stay away from my sister, filth!" Sokka yelled.

"I had no intention of hurting her…" the boy said pleadingly, but Sokka didn't listen. Katara watched on in frightened fascination as the fight, if you could call it that, unfolded.

Sokka rushed at the boy, waving his whale tooth knife through the air in an impressive arc. The boy didn't move at all while Sokka rushed him. He kept his back to the wall, and his eyes constantly flicked between Katara and Sokka, seemingly prepared to deal with them both if needed. Something in his glance held Katara still, and there was that reluctance again in the lively grey eyes. All of this transpired in seconds, and when Sokka was barely a foot from him, he reacted.

The boy moved faster than anyone Katara had ever seen. One moment he was standing in the middle of the alley, the next he waved to the side like a reed. He pivoted on the spot, thrusting his staff out in front of Sokka's ankle and in the same moment completing a full spin, catching Sokka in the back with the other staff's other end. The boy moved with grace and a strength which belied his frame. Sokka in contrast was sent pitching forward in a comical motion and landed sprawling at Katara's feet.  
Katara smirked at Sokka for an instant, barely restraining a giggle, thinking that he deserved a good beating for all his pig-headedness of late. Sokka for his part was still dazed on the ground. Katara looked up from the heap of her brother's tangled limbs and looked back at the boy. He looked shocked at what he'd done, like he'd known he could do it, but horrified that he'd actually done it. Again that desperation to escape himself haunted his eyes, along with something else Katara recognized as self-loathing.

"Sorry…" he mumbled to her, grey eyes softening as they locked on hers, and then he was gone, running away as if she were the one threatening him and not the other way around.

Without thinking she took off after him, her legs straining as she tried to catch up with him. "Katara, wait!" Sokka called, the bag of food abandoned beside him, but she payed both no heed. She raced through the streets, just keeping up with the boy. He was as fast running as he was when he knocked Sokka down, but she could tell he was tired and weak. Maybe a hundred yards more through the winding alleys, and she caught up to him abruptly, wobbling on his feet. This time as she faced him, she didn't hesitate to approach, reaching his side just in time to catch him as he collapsed.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Zuko impatiently strode the deck of the trade ship he was on. It disgusted him that he had to resort to such measures to creep around the globe; he could hardly show up in the home of his enemy with his warship, the proud Canadians would blast his Dynasty ship on sight. So he was relegated to sneaking into the large metropolis that was Halifax. It all seemed so uncivilised compared to back home, but he supposed that was just the capitalist way of life. Soon he knew, his father would burn their putrid cities to the ground, when they avenged the first defeat of the Sozin dynasty.

"What exactly are you hoping to find, prince Zuko?" the voice of his old uncle broke his reverie.

"I know he's here" Zuko growled at his uncle, angrily staring down the looks from the crew around him.

"We've been down this path before nephew, the last of the Tibetans are surely deep in hiding now, there's no chance you'll find the last one, your father, your grandfather, and your great grandfather all tried to hunt them down before you, and failed." Iroh said reasonabley. "Please sit, why don't you enjoy a cup of calming Jasmine tea?"

"I don't need any calming tea!" he yelled at his Uncle's irritating attitude. "I won't fail! And I won't give up, because my honour depends upon capturing this last miserable coward, the last of the race that betrayed our family."

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"Katara! What do you think you're doing?" Sokka said angrily, when he finally caught up with his sister. The sight he found almost put him in an uncontrollable rage. There his sister was holding the boy who minutes ago had been trying to mug her and attacked him. Sokka of course conveniently left out the fact he had charged the boy when he was attacked, and that he hadn't actually laid a hand – or stave – on Katara for that matter, either. Still it didn't stop him from speaking his mind "Do you ever think?" he yelled "He tried to mug you for Christ's sake! Not to mention he attacked me!"

"So far that's only raised my view of him." Katara said drily, staring her brother down. "Shh, he's stirring." Sokka just rolled his eyes, trying to think of a good comeback.

"Urgh…" The boy groaned looking up into Katara's eyes right above his, dazed for a moment. "I have to ask you something…" he whispered hoarsely "closer" Katara leaned in, their faces so close to be almost touching. "Do you have anything to drink?"

"Um… sure" Katara answered, not sure about what she'd been expecting but it definitely hadn't been that. She passed him a skin of water she wore on her hip, and he took a gulp greedily. Katara wasn't sure why she always carried that skin of water with her, but for some reason it comforted her, just the feeling of having water close by soothed her although she had never told anyone else. Right now she was glad she had it with her, as she saw some semblance of life return to the boy's face.

He startled her by jumping up swiftly and landing lightly on his feet; with his long dark hair finally out of his face she could for the first time see him properly beyond his grey eyes. He definitely was not native to this area, and yet despite being very pale skinned there was something striking about his angular features, refined and graceful. Yet she was once again drawn back in by those warm grey eyes which were appraising her and Sokka with fear and a certain morbid curiosity. He looked set to run off again, when Katara placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. "What's going on here?" he mumbled to himself confused, seemingly unable to understand her compassion.

"What's your name?" Katara asked, seeing nothing in this boy that threatened her.

"Um… Aang" he answered, puzzled. "Just Aang…" he continued at her curious expression "I don't have a last name."

"Oh… Well I'm Katara by the way," She introduced herself, finally provoking a gaping Sokka into speech.

"Katara! Don't tell him anything, he might try and track us down and rob us again!" Sokka exclaimed indignantly.

"Yeah because he so looks like he's gonna rob us." Katara shot back at her brother "Face it Sokka, if he wanted to he could have taken everything on you back in that alley" she had the satisfaction of seeing Sokka's cheeks colour in indignation. She turned back to Aang "as you've no doubt gathered the paranoid one is my brother Sokka"

Aang barely managed to stifle a laugh, Katara was grinning too. It was odd how familiar everything felt, and he was suddenly very glad that he hadn't been able to mug this girl – and that she had for seemingly no reason whatsoever come running after him. "So you guys live around here?" he asked.

"We live with our grandmother" Katara answered, ignoring the glare Sokka shot her way. "Where do you live? Do you have a family?"

Aang immediately looked away at the mention of his family, trying to hide a feeling of shame that always returned whenever he thought about his home. "I uh, kinda, left home" he finally answered.

"Where are you from, anyway?" Sokka asked, eyes narrowing on Aang.

"Tibet" he answered, noticing the shocked looks on both Katara's and Sokka's faces. "Why, shouldn't I be here?"

"No, no, nothing like that" Katara said hurriedly. "Do you have anywhere to stay?" Aang shook his head in answer. "Ok then it's settled, you can come back with us."

Aang just stared at Katara as she said this, surprised at the turn of events. Surprised barely even described Sokka's reaction, "What! It's not decided at all, you can't just take people in Katara! He could even be a part of the Dynasty!"

"Sokka…"

"I mean you done some crazy things before but this has to take the cake! Why oh why dear lord did I have to get stuck with the sister that-"

"SOKKA!" she yelled, and he subsided.

"Alright, I get it, just don't splash me again. But I'm warning you, Gran-Gran is gonna toss him out."

"We'll see about that."

Aang just watched the argument in a kind of stunned fascination; he was actually going to have somewhere to stay for the night! His thoughts continued, turning to Katara, and he thought about her for a moment. Who was she to offer up her home to someone like him so readily? He looked her over, taking in the dark skin and the long chocolate brown hair which perfectly complemented her deep blue eyes. Eyes that spoke to him, that said more than words could when they were locked on his. His mind drifted back to the scene in the alley, and replayed it again, slowing over the moment her eyes met and held his. He wondered again who she was to take him in after what he'd been about to do.

"Hey Aang, you ready to get going?" her soft voice snapped him out of his contemplations.

"Huh? Oh yeah." He smiled warmly.

"Oh crap." She muttered looking at the darkening sky, then the street around her. "Sokka do you know where we are?"

"Not a clue, sis. I'm just following you now" he smirked bitterly, seeming to enjoy the fact that she'd gotten them lost.

"Don't worry, I know where we are, or at least Appa does" Aang smiled brighter than before, looking beyond them at something they couldn't see.

"Appa?" she asked curiously, wondering what other surprises this boy had. Katara finally saw 'Appa' as he came bounding out to greet them. He was a dog, and not just any breed of dog he was a supposedly extinct Tibetan Mastiff. Katara hadn't thought there were any of those dogs had survived what happened to the Tibetans. Appa was unlike any other dog she'd seen, he had a fluffy white coat with a brown streak running down his back from his forehead. It looked startlingly like an arrow.

Appa for his part seemed to look at her and Sokka appraisingly for a moment before he let out a happy bark and began to lick Sokka. "Urgh, get him off! He's gonna slobber all over me!"

"Don't worry it'll wash out" Aang said grinning broadly. The big dog barked again and bounded over to his side. "Ok you ready boy?"

"We're following the _dog_?" Sokka asked, as if they were nuts.

"Don't worry, Appa has a great sense of direction, don't you buddy?" Aang said lovingly to the dog. "He can get us back to the main street in no time, then we can go home." Aang smiled warmly at the two of them, surprising himself at how quickly he had accepted and been accepted by them. Well by Katara at least.

"Wait, since when did we decide to follow _him_ and that fluffy _saliva monster_" Sokka said pointedly, clearly not happy with the arrangement.

"Well if you prefer something _else_ that roams the streets to lead you home, by all means be my guest and wait around." Katara said smirking.

Sokka hesitated a moment longer before, reluctantly following the two of them, noticing how late it was getting. Sighing he watched as Aang told a joke of sort to his sister, and she laughed like hadn't seen her do in years. What was it with those two, heck what was it with the world today? Why did he feel like he was the only one being left out of some great big joke? _Probably coz I am_ he thought bitterly, still watching Aang closely. Just because Katara trusted him – and for no good reason that he could tell – didn't mean that he was going too.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"Aang! Aang, wake up!"

"What!" The boy sat bolt upright, as if still in the grips of some nightmare. He calmed as he remembered where he was, and how he got here. It had turned out to be a surprisngly long walk with the groceries he had tried to steal earlier that same day, and by the time Sokka nd Katara had escorted him to their house they had all just collapsed and gone to sleep. Even Sokka didn't complain for once.

"It's okay Aang; you're at my house now." Katara said reasuringly, and he smiled a silent thanks to her. "Come on, everyone's waiting to meet you!" Katara said brightly, pulling off of the makeshift bed. She gasped as she saw Aang in just his sleeping trunks, not least because of his toned form, but also because of the pale blue tattoos that ran up his arms and back. The blue lines twisted down around his hips where she couldn't see them beneath his trunks, down his legs and arrows across the arch of his foot. The tattoo continued up his back in the same manner, branching at his shoulder blades to twist around his arms, forming similar arrows on his wrists to those on his feet. The tattoo also continued up his back to the nape of his neck where it was obscured by his shaggy mass of hair. She imagined that there was another large arrow in his beneath it, and when she looked closely she could just make out a blue point in his forehead.

"What is it Katara?" The boy asked, dressing quickly.

Hiding her sudden blush she turned away from him. "It's nothing…" she assured him. "Come on hurry up!" and with that she grabbed him by the wrist and protesting dragged him down into the living room of the small house.

Moments later they were down stairs, and Aang was surprised to see a large gathering of people in the living room. "Aang meet the family. Entire family, meet Aang"

"H-hi" he waved shyly, noticing the looks they were giving him. "Um why are they all looking at me like that?" he said aside to Katara "Did Appa drool on me?"

"We just aren't used to strangers around here, people are desperate these days, and most of them are bad sorts." An old woman stepped forward and spoke gratingly as she seemed to measure Aang up.

Aang started guiltily, remembering how he had been one of those desperate sorts before he met Katara.  
"Aang this is my Grandmother, Kana" Katara spoke up, seeing his discomfort, ignoring the smirking Sokka in the background. "The rest are our neighbours, although they're practically family."

"Call me Gran-Gran" The old woman said smiling warmly now.

"Gran-Gran you can't be serious!" Sokka exclaimed from the back of the room.

"Sokka, be nice to your sister, she seems to have rescued a nice young man."

"Rescued? He tried to mug us!" Sokka said angrily.

"Um, not really" Aang felt he had to say something here. "I never had any intention of hurting anyone, and I never actually mugged anyone either." He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Kana's eyes narrowed, she didn't pay too much heed to Sokka's fussing, although the allegations were serious. Instead her eye caught on the sight of the blue tattoos now visible on the boy's wrist as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I've only seen tattoos like those once before, boy." She said haltingly.

"Really?" Aang asked curiously.

"Yes. You're a Tibetan aren't you?"

"Well I was raised there" he said, rubbing his neck even more furiously as everyone stared at him again. "What's with the looks this time?" he asked Katara, but Kana overheard.

"No one has seen anyone from Tibet in over a hundred years. We thought they were all extinct."

"Extinct?" he asked confused, but everyone seemed to have lost interest in him, trundling out to do whatever tasks were required of them.

"Come on Katara, you have chores to do" Gran-Gran said pulling a reluctant Katara away from Aang.

"I told you Gran, he's the real deal, he can help us, and if he was raised by the monks then he's our best chance to stop the Dynasty."

"Katara I don't want you to put all your hopes into this boy" Kana said slowly.

"Well we haven't had hope in anything in a long time," Katara said pointedly "besides; I sense he's filled with much wisdom. He has the right to everything the Dynasty has taken." She cast a long look back at Aang as he made a rather comical demonstration of his martial arts skill to the little children of the neighbourhood. Katara couldn't help a small giggle at the sight, he really was very sweet.

Behind her, her grandmother smirked to herself, before pulling her granddaughter away again.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Zuko stood on the deck of the trade ship facing up against two disguised members of his crew. In a quick series of movements he closed the distance between him and them, attempting to take the first down with a sweeping kick. The man blocked him with a solid stance, but was unprepared for Zuko's fast follow through. Still he was able to hold his ground.  
The second man Zuko was sparring with closed in now and Zuko back flipped to avoid his vicious round house kick. Executing a quick spin upon landing Zuko met the second with a series of rapid punches and jabs, breaking through his defence through shear force.

"No Zuko!" The voice of his uncle interrupted him. "Power in the Bak Mei and southern arts comes from your stance! Control your breathing, move your feet, make your opponent move around you and then utilise your strength when you have him where you want him!"

"Enough! I have been drilling this sequence all day! Teach me the next set, I am more than ready." Zuko glared at Iroh.

"No, you are impatient! You have yet to master your basics. Drill it again!" Iroh reprimanded him.

Furiously Zuko spun and kicked one of the men behind him, sending him skidding across the deck. "There!" He grinned cruelly. "Uncle Iroh, the Sages tell us that the Tibetans had the first claim to our land. If the last one gets away and rallies support then our whole nation's honour will be forfeit." Zuko met his uncle's hard gaze, and sore him wince sadly at his words. "This last monk has had up to a hundred years to gather followers and master the techniques since he fled; I will need more than basics to defeat him! You will teach me the advanced set!"

"Very well" Iroh said gravely, "but first let me finish my meal!" Zuko groaned as the old man pulled out a bowl of roast duck and began tucking into it with gusto. He readied himself as he waited for his uncle to finish, his grim determination fuelling him like nothing else could.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"Now listen up men! It is important that you show no fear when you face a soldier of the Dynasty! Here, we fight till the last man standing, for without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" Sokka spoke passionately, sighing at the confused faces looking up at him.

The group of kids no more than five years old sat silently and Sokka hoped that maybe they'd gotten the message. "I gotta pee!" a voice called out from the group.

"Listen!" Sokka tried again "until your fathers get back from the war, they're counting on you to be the men of your families! And that means no potty breaks!"

"But I really gotta go!" the same boy repeated.

"Fine, who else needs to go?" Sokka groaned in resignation as a sea of hands rose and the rest of the kids chorused their need for a potty break.

"Have you seen Aang?" The welcome distraction of his sister's voice pulled his attention away from the little kids he was drilling. He wasn't too pleased about the subject matter however. "Gran-Gran said he disappeared an hour ago." The concern was evident in Katara's voice, although he had no idea why she cared so much.

"Weee!" A little kids voice rang out, and both Katara and Sokka turned to see Aang giving one of the kids a helicopter ride.

"Urgh!" Sokka grunted, angrily "Katara get him out of here! This lesson is for warriors only!"

"Maybe you should ask him to teach, seeing how he whooped you're but pretty good" Katara said smirking.

"Stop! Stop it right now!" Sokka was yelling at Aang who was playing with the kids, and Katara couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Aang turned his head at the sound, grinning at her widely. Katara felt better than she could remember in years. She burst into absolute hysterics as Aang was tacked onto the ground by the kids while he was looking at her. Se unconsciously wiped a tear from her eye, she hadn't laughed like this in ages.

"What's wrong with you!" Sokka finally pried Aang away from the kids, dragging the smaller boy. "We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on!"

"What war?" Aang asked confused, looking at Sokka like he was talking about nuclear physics. "What are you talking about?" But his attention was drawn to his dog which was running down the street before Sokka could answer. "Appa!"

"You're kidding right?" Sokka asked drily, staring at Aang like he was insane not for the first time.

"Appa, wait!" Aang didn't seem to hear Sokka as he ran after his beloved dog.

Sokka spared a long look at his sister, who was staring worriedly after Aang. "He's kidding right?"

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"Aang?" Katara called as she finally caught up with him. She realized he was standing amongst a pack of stray dogs, which were all licking him.

"I have a way with animals" he said, smiling at her by way of greeting. He tried his best to imitate a dog bark, which resulted in Katara in fit of giggles. His heart soared and his stomach felt light as a feather. She had a really pretty laugh. Without realizing what he was doing or how he did it, he propelled himself into the air and landed softly on his feet.

"What was that?" Katara asked, stunned.

"What was what? Aang repeated, completely oblivious to the fact that he had just levitated.

"You… you kind of flew, you were hovering in the air!"

"I wha-" a sudden urge to sneeze overtook him, and this time he felt it too as he lifted off the ground. He suddenly remembered an old lesson with his mentor Monk Gyatso. _He had told him about the mysteries of the spirit world that balanced this one, and about the power to bend the elements of life that stemmed from them; Water, Earth, Fire and Air._

He turned back Katara who was regarding him with astonished eyes, like she couldn't believe what she'd seen. To some extent he couldn't believe it either, it seemed to go against everything modern society had proved, yet here he was. _Bending._

The next thing Katara said surprised him. He had been expecting her to run away or be frightened by what he'd just discovered about himself, and the thought hurt. However she didn't run, or even seem scared. Instead she looked at him with curiosity and asked "can you teach me to do that?"

He was so taken aback by her, he was sure he just stood their mouth gaping. "I-uh, I don't know" he stammered, finally getting his muscles back under control. "I kinda don't really know how I did it."

"Oh… What exactly did you do? Do you know anything about this… this power?" He felt bad when he saw her disappointed look, but grinned again at her curiosity.

"Sort of… but I always thought of it as fairytales. When I was a little kid living at the Tashilumpo temple my mentor told me stories of ancient people who could meld the elements of life to their will."

"The elements of life?"

"Water, Earth, Fire and Air" he answered. "I know, very different from the chemical elements right? It's a part of initiate training I suppose, learning about the balance."

"The balance?" Katara felt kind of foolish for asking so many questions, but Aang didn't mind. He was enjoying every minute of his time with her.

"The balance is kinda like a principle the monks were taught to live by. See the balance in nature, the harmony of the elements, like the winds and the waves, the sun and the rain, the plants and the seasons" he explained.

"I think I see what you mean." She said softly, her deep blue eyes shining "Like the moon and the ocean." Aang looked at the beautiful dark skinned girl beside him and hid a growing blush.

"Yeah, in perfect harmony. That's the balance, which is something the monks swore to protect." He continued to think about what she'd said about the moon and the ocean, and a question formed in his mind randomly. Before he could stop himself the question burst forth from his lips. "Are you an Inuit?" He gagged as soon as he;d uttered the words, almost unable to believe he'd just asked that. It just seemed so stupid.

She however didn't seem to mind or notice. "A lot of people here are of Inuit descent." She answered "And yes, my family have been native to this land for generations." She idly fingered her hair loops, a striking feature of hers that Aang hadn't really noticed until now.

"Love the hair loops by the way" he said grinning cheekily.

"Thanks" she mumbled, and he fancied he could see a blush rise on her cheeks.

"Here come with me." He led her by the arm back towards the house, Appa leaving the pack of dogs and following on their heels.

"Where exactly are we going?" she asked, as Aang steered he past their neighbourhood and picking something up along the way.

"Sledding!" he answered, laughing freely. That was when she noticed he'd picked a a small sled of sorts, it was really just a wooden board with ski's underneath, and a rope which he tied to Appa. "Yip yip buddy!" he yelled, wrapping an arm around her pulling her onto the sled with him as Appa took off.

"Is this alright for Appa?" she asked, not wanting to hurt the dog.

"Of course! Back in Tibet he would pull me around sledding all the time, and it's not like you're a burden" he said, still smiling.

"I haven't gone sledding since I was a kid" she giggled joyfully, wrapping her arms that little bit tighter around him.

"You still are a kid!" Aang grinned, blushing ever so slightly, and she smiled brighter in response.

A moment of silence stretched between them, measured only by the happy panting of Appa and the rush of the wind as they careered down a quiet snow laden street.  
"Do you have any idea where you're going?" she asked, finally breaking the calm between them.

"Nope" he said cheekily.

"You haven't been here very long" she observed.

"Uh not really" he mumbled "I don't really remember much about I got here actually, just waking up on a block of ice beside Appa, then black again before washing up on a beach here somewhere."

"How long have you been here?" she asked, surprised at his story.

"Maybe a week or two… I was kinda overwhelmed by it all really, I've seen some large cities in China" he didn't notice how she stiffened against him as the he said the word "And then some in Europe, but only in passing. I spent most of my life growing up in a secluded temple, and then I washed up here, and I just did whatever I had to, to survive I guess." He said sadly. "Until I met you that is!" he brightened immediately, she smiled as well.

She smiled back, amazed that they had only known each other for a couple of days. It felt like a lifetime already, _A lifetime well spent_ she thought, blushing despite herself. However she felt like there was something he wasn't telling her about his story, but she respected it, and didn't push. She had heard the rumours of what the Dynasty did in Tibet and knew it must be a painful experience for him, and wasn't surprised he didn't want to talk about it.

"So what's your story?" he asked. "And what's this about a War that Sokka was going on about? Is it trouble in South Africa again? Or the Persian Gulf? I had a feeling that things weren't going so well there."

"Um…" she didn't quite know how to say this. _How could he not know?_ "Aang… the world is at war."

"Come again?" he asked slowly hoping he'd heard her wrong.

"I don't know how to say this, but the Dynasty started the war nearly a hundred years ago! They've been trying to conquer the world ever since, and slowly, each year; they are getting a little closer to doing it" She smiled sadly "My dad went off to fight two years ago, somewhere in the Mediterranean to defend western Europe."

The sled suddenly pulled to a stop, and there they stood on a snow covered beach, looking out into the harbor. Not far away an old battle ship lay rusting against the shore, the huge holes in its hull a monument to the fierce fighting that must have taken place. "No no no…" Aang mumbled over and over again. "This is so messed up! How can this be possible! When I left there was no war, I had friends in the China Dynasty!" A choked sob escaped his throat it was a horrible sound, and it tore at Katara's heart.

"Do you know how you ended up here?" she asked, and he turned his head away as if in shame.

"The last thing I remember after I left was stowing aboard some ship with Appa north of Siberia. There was this terrible storm, and I fell over board… then all there was this feeling of cold, I guess I was frozen, it's the only thing that makes sense" he sighed, long and deep. "Then I was opening my eyes to see Halifax… and you kinda know the rest." He tried to muster a smile, but his eyes seemed hollow and empty.

"Is it possible… that somehow you survive in that ice for a hundred years?"

"I guess I had to have huh?" he said bitterly.

"Well perhaps there is a bright side to all this" Katara suggested, and was rewarded with his bright smile once again.

"I did get to meet you" he said, blushing. With forced optimism he began walking along the beech, calling back to Katara "Come one, there was a reason I wanted to come to the beach in the first place."

Katara looked at him puzzled as he skipped stupidly along the beach, and she ran to catch up, playfully tackling him, "What did you want to show me?"

"Um this is gonna sound stupid, but bear with me" he said waving an arm magnanimously at the ocean before them. "Can you feel the waves?"

"What?"

"Just hold on and listen" he said. "Feel the waves." He took a deep breath closing his eyes, and let it out again. Katara watched his suddenly serene gaze for a moment before mimicking him.

She let out a cry of surprise as she felt the waves rolling thorough her, and she immediately opened her eyes, expecting feel a wave wash over her at any second and soak her. But as she looked around she saw that she was standing beside Aang in the snow, and the waves were only gently lapping at the shore several yards away. _What the…? _"Aang what is this?" she asked, confused, and just a little bit frightened.

He didn't answer her right away. "Have you ever heard of the legend of the Avatar?" he asked softly.

"Yes of course. It was one of my favourite stories as a child." She raised an eyebrow curiously at him. "Why?"

"Doesn't matter" he said, slumping slightly. "I just think that maybe you can bend water."

"What!" she was shocked. _What did he mean bend water?_

"You can feel the waves through you, when you listen, like I can feel the breeze. Have you ever done something, like splashed some one or spilt something without ever really knowing how?"

"well there was this one time, right before I met you actually, when somehow I broke a drainpipe and sprayed Sokka with water" They both laughed, he at the thought of it and Katara at the memory. "Sokka was furious."

"Yeah he didn't seem so happy when we met." Aang grinned again. "Anyway, ever since you pointed it out to me what I was doing I realized all the time I've done things that couldn't really be explained, like how I'm so fast, or can jump so high." He sighed, and stared deep into her cerulean eyes "And I thought I saw something in you similar then." He swept his arm out over the waves, "And lo and behold I was right." He grinned cheekily. "Go on, try and move it" he said waving to the water again.

And so she stood there, rocking back and forth, feeling just a little bit ridiculous as his eyes followed her every move. However she felt it once again, the feeling of the waves inside her, the push and pull of tides, and as she looked over the calm water she saw it respond to her. She moved forwards, pushing slowly out, and the water near her on the beach moved with her, against the tug of the tide. This drained her quickly, and as she pulled the water back towards her, with the tide, she felt the water surge in response racing up the beach to where she and Aang were standing. Breathing deep she released her tenuous hold of the water and sagged a bit, before meeting Aang's gaze.

He smiled at her reassuringly, and his eyes shone with admiration. "That was incredible." He said. "You know, you looked a lot like you were doing Tai Chi, the way you moved with the flow of the water." He added as an after thought. "I could teach you some moves and see if that helps you control the water at all."

"You'd be willing to teach me martial arts? Wait, what martial arts do you know?"

"A lot" he muttered modestly "I only got these tattoos when the monks found worthy as a master."

"So what does all this mean? This _bending_?" she asked softly.

"To be honest, I don't know, but it does mean that we have the power to make a change."

"I like the sound of that" Katara smiled, and headed back towards the sled and Appa, with Aang by her side. _I definitely could get used to this._

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Zuko stood on the Halifax dock looking aimlessly out over the beach, when something caught his eye. It was a large white dog, a breed that hadn't been seen since the Tibetan monks a hundred years ago, with a brown stripe running from it's forehead down its back. Pulling out the pair of binoculars he carried on him, he focused on it. And there approaching the dog now was a man and a woman, picking up a sled that was leashed to the dog. The man then kneeled and petted the dog, whispering something in his ear. As the man did this the back of neck became exposed and there below the mass of dark hair he could see the clear outlines of a blue tattoo.

"Wake my uncle!" He yelled, turning to the man beside him. "And tell him I've found the last Tibetan… and his hiding place." he said, a smirk reaching his face as his gaze followed the path the couple and dog took into the city.

* * *

_Author's note:_

_So yeah, this story is almost a complete adaptation of the first episode, with a few of my one twists thrown in! Hope you like it, tell me whether I should continue or not._

_Oh yeah, there are couple of things I'm gonna point out - I know I put katara and Sokka in the North Pole but I found it was more realistic having people of inuti descent living in Nova Scotia than say Tasmania. I'd also note that I've never been to halifax, and that the image I paint of it here is totally fictional, nothing like what the city really is. Just for the purposes of the story everything is kinda rundown and shabby due to the war._

_On another note, all the martial arets referenced and described are real, the Bak Mei is a real southern Chinese martial arts whihc focuses on quick foot work and offene with fast powerful punches and sweeping kicks. I thought this was appropriate as a development of firebending without the bending._

_I'd also like to mention that the Tashilumpo Temple is a real monastery in Tibet, and they historically raise Tibetan Mastiffs as well other breeds of Tibetan dogs there with the monks._

_Also I promise to everyone who's reading 'Peace...' That I'll get back to that soon. Got a gargantuan chapter in the works for it as well  
So yeah, if you like waht I've started, please let me know and click review below! (not meaning to rhyme, lol)_

Regards!

~BV~


	2. Ch 2 'The Monk Returns'

** Avatar: The Lost Arts **

**Part 1 – 'Blue Planet'**

_Foreword:  
By request, here is the second Chapter. Sorry this one took me so long to put together, I had alot of trouble especially with Sokka and Zuko's characters.__  
Just in case you missed it before, the character ages are older, but same age differences (I think) Aang 16, Katara 17, Sokka 18, Zuko 19 and so on, pretty much the same age gaps. Again, this will all be explained in the story, so enjoy!_

_Disclaimer:__  
I own neither A:TLA or anybody else's work. Please note that there will be references to real places and historical events, (like the holocaust, Silence of the Tibetan Monks and cities and such) these accounts are all fictitiously represented and in no way reflect real life. Some may be offensive to some people, so please don't flame me for this._

_The Rating has been dropped to _(T)_ for now.__  
(Again – I will notify if this changes)._

_So thanks for reading and I hope keep enjoying!_

~BENIGNviewer~

**

* * *

**

**[Chaper 2] - The Monk Returns  
**

"Are you gonna be ok Aang? I know it's a lot to take in… the war and all. I can't imagine what you're going through." Katara was talking to the boy gently as they plodded back towards her small house.  
Truthfully she was worried for him. In a very short time they had become very good friends, she couldn't explain it, but he brought a sense of fun and adventure to her life that she'd been missing, and this strange sense of trust. If she believed in Fate, she would have to conclude that their destinies had brought them together for a reason. And that was partly what was concerning her. She, along with everyone else, had heard the rumours of the monks of Tibet. They were more like myths, legends, but she believed in them. A hundred and twenty years ago Emperor Sozin started a war. He tried to invade the surrounding countries, but according to the stories he was stopped. A lone monk from his own country, trained in Tibet, singlehandedly defeated him, and ended the world war, before it could truly begin. No one knew how, just that the Sozin Dynasty feared the Tibetans from then on.  
Twenty years later Sozin tried again, launching a massive surprise attack on the Tibetans and claiming their land as a rightful part of _his_ China. It was called the silence of the Tibetan monks, and the whole world watched the genocide yet no one dared to intervene. Sozin moved further and further, his greed for his empire was insatiable, overrunning Africa and much of the Middle East within that year. That was just the start of the Second World War, which had raged on ceaselessly for a hundred years. Over this time the Dynasty had mercilessly hunted down any last remnants of the Tibetans across the world and destroyed them. And now she had found this boy Aang, raised by the Tibetan monks, who had been lost for a hundred years, probably the last monk alive.  
_Could he really be the world's last hope against the dynasty?_ She wasn't sure, but he was definitely different. _And what about my own powers?_ This _bending_ as she was told. She had so many questions, that she couldn't ask. Aang was definitely a boy of mystery, yet did those mysteries hold the key to save the world?

"Katara?" his soft voice broke here reverie, and she realized he was gently shaking her shoulder. "Katara, I'll be fine. To be honest it doesn't seem real yet, but as the monks said '_Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future; focus your spirit on the present moment_'"

"I don't know how you can be so positive after all that's happened… but I'm glad" she said smiling, as Appa barked seemingly in agreement.

She almost missed his whispered reply as they arrived back at the house "Me too."

"Where have you two been? It's getting late!" Sokka yelled dramatically as Katara and Aang returned. "Where have you been!" He was leaning against the door of their house, glaring at Aang as he Katara and Appa finally returned from their wandering.

"Sokka, you just asked the same question twice!" Katara said exasperated, and reluctant to talk about her time with Aang to Sokka.

"So what? It's an important question!"

"Clam down, it's not a big deal, we just went down to the beach." Aang said placatingly.

"The beach! But it's the middle of winter! Are you guys' crazy?" he gestured around his ear with his hands for emphasis.

"Sokka, we were just walking" Katara snapped.

"You know it's not safe out there! That's where the _ship_ is!" Sokka said brusquely, eyeing Aang mistrustfully. "I still think he could be a Dynasty spy."  
Aang noticed Katara start guiltily at the mention of 'the ship', and figured Sokka was talking about the Navy ship that they had walked past. Still, she snorted at the thought of him being a spy, and Sokka seemed to realize it was a rather unfeasible argument as well. "Or he could be some gangland low life. Yeah I'll bet that's what he is, and that's how he got those tats!"

"Sokka even Gran-Gran thought those were monk tattoos, do you seriously think he was lying?"

"I don't know! I don't trust him that's all!"

"Um guys… Do I have some say in who I am or my actions?" Aang interrupted trying to get there attention, but they both ignored him.

"What's going on here?" the gravelly voice of Kanna finally broke the argument, as she pulled the door open behind Sokka. Appa immediately rushed inside with a happy bark, and Sokka almost lost his balance from the combination of dog and door moving behind him.

"Sokka was being a jerk!" Katara quickly chimed while Sokka was floundering around.

"What! That's what I get for looking out for you?" Sokka said indignantly, once he was standing upright.

"You just don't like him coz-"

"Enough!" Kanna grunted wearily, leading Aang to believe these kinds of arguments were a common occurrence. The two of siblings stopped yelling again, looking somewhat chagrined. Aang just glanced nervously between the three family members as their grandmother led them inside.

"I'm heading out" Sokka announced after glaring at Aang and his sister for a moment longer.

"Where?" Katara asked.

"Oh you know, places. To see some… people."

"Right… people" Katara said sarcastically.

"Hey I can have a social life" he said defensively.

"You mean hanging out at the arcade is considered social now?"

"Well it's not like you get out and do anything miss 'sit at home and read'" Sokka shot back.

"I do get out!"

"To do the shopping maybe."

"Huh! So you admit it!" she said triumphantly

"Admit what?"

"That it was me doing the shopping the other day."

"That was-"

Aang, sensing that their bickering would never stop if he didn't do something chose then to intervene. "What's an arcade?" Both Katara and Sokka stared at him as if he was crazy. "What's with the looks again?"

"Dude, as if you don't know what an arcade is!"

"Raised by monks in the Himalayas, remember Sokka?" Aang said in frustration, Sokka just snorted. It was obvious he had chosen not to believe him.

"Consider yourself blessed." Katara said snidely, giving her brother a pointed look.

"Well technically I am a master which means I'm enlightened…"

"Ok seriously?" Sokka said disbelievingly "And your 'enlightenment'" he made air quotes with his fingers at the word "couldn't enlighten you as to what an Arcade is?"

"It kinda doesn't work like that…"

"Ok, well I'm going to leave Mr. 'enlightened' here with Miss 'fantasy world' and head off to the mall where things make sense." He yelled to his grandmother who had retreated to the living room.

"Have fun dear!" she called back, Sokka blushed, and catching the other's smirks he marched out of the house in a huff.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Zuko paced wearily down the Halifax streets. In truth he was nervous this far away from his warship in enemy territory. His ship was some where off the coast of Nova Scotia but he was comforted by the fact that it could be here in a couple of hours at the most. _When_ he found the monk he would be able to get him and get out before the United Allied Navy could stop him. Yet despite this he was still nervous.

"Nephew, are you even sure he's here?" Iroh said quietly and vaguely lest they be overheard.

"I know he is Uncle, I saw him."

"How can you be sure?"

"The tattoos could only belong to one of the enlightened monks." He snapped, tired of his Uncles questioning. He had tried to follow the tattooed man he'd seen on the beach, but never had a chance. He had returned back to the trade ship and slipped quietly into the city with the few elite soldiers he'd taken with him, and his uncle. Now he knew that the monk was in the city, it only increased his frustration at being unable to find him.

"Are you positive you weren't seeing what you wanted to see?" His uncle asked pointedly

"Yes I am positive, god damn it!"

"Alright, alright…" Iroh held his hands up submissively "Do you have any idea where he is then? 400,000 people live here, where do you expect to find this monk? "

Zuko let out a long sigh, hating the only answer he had to give his uncle "…I don't know"

"Well think Zuko! We can hardly linger here, lead with your head for once!"

"I know what I am doing uncle!"

"No, you know what you want to do, but you have no idea how to achieve it." Iroh said gruffly.

"I have had it with your foolish sayings; we are not leaving here without the Tibetan!"

"That's what I'm afraid of."

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"Ooh yeah! Who's the man? Who's the man? Baby you the man!" Sokka cooed to himself. He was absorbed in his game, intent on setting a new high score. Katara and Gran-Gran thought he was immature playing around in the arcade all the time, but the truth was it was a refuge for Sokka. He continued shooting using the game's remote pistol, arrogantly posing as he showcased his skills.

"Oh no you don't sucka!" he yelled as he nailed another virtual bad guy "James Bond's got nothing on me" he blew imaginary smoke away from the gun's barrel for emphasis.

"Okay, time to rescue the president's daughter, doll-face come to daddy" he smirked as he saw the picture of the girl in a tank top and a skimpy pair of shorts. _Virtual or not, she was hot_ he thought to himself "Man I love this game!" Maybe it was just a little immature he conceded.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Zuko was looking around the mall with disdain.

"Loosen up nephew!" Iroh said jovially "You definitely won't find a place like this back home. Try to enjoy it if you can."

"Uncle…"

"I find myself in dire need of a good cup of tea; I'm going to try the coffee shop over there. Why don't you entertain yourself in that arcade?"

"We don't have tome for tea and games!"

"Relax Zuko; good things come to those who wait."

Zuko just stared at Iroh for a long moment. "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

Iroh just shrugged and grunted non-committally, making a beeline for the Coffee shop. Resignedly he walked into the arcade. It was filled with a bunch of young kids, and surprisingly one older boy who looked to be about his age.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"Man I hate this game!" Sokka was cursing heartily at the game he had just finished "This is complete shit! I can't believe I wasted two bucks on it!" He was staring at the high score screen broken hearted. It was his best score yet, and it should have been number one. In fact it would have been number one, a few days ago when he last played. But now one name with a ridiculously high score was above his.  
"Cabbages?" he asked of no one "What kind of ridiculous name is that! Where is this Cabbage man and how dare he beat me at my own game!"

"Jeez dude, calm down." A tall guy, about his age strode up to him. He had dark black that mostly hid his eyes, and what looked like a red tattoo around his left eye.

"That's easy for you to say, your dreams weren't just crushed" he bemoaned.

"It's just a game" He said dismissively.

"Just a game! You try playing it buddy, and then tell me it's just a game!" Sokka said, smiling despite himself.

"Sure, Give me a shot and I'll show you" The other guy said smirking.

"Fine!" Sokka said grudgingly, putting a few coins in the machine. "What's your name by the way?"

"Zuko" the guy replied, and Sokka entered it in the game machine.

"Alright then, _Zuko_ what kind of name is that anyway?"

"The one I'm stuck with" Zuko answered shortly.

"Whatever. Now don't be disappointed if you get killed right away." Sokka said, demonstrating how to use the remote gun. "We're gonna do this two player, so follow my lead."

"You take this a little too seriously" Zuko told him gruffly as the game started. Quickly and expertly he raised and held the pistol in front of him, hitting every one of the bad guys that popped up on screen. Sokka couldn't hit any of them.

"Wow you're good" he admitted "I thought you thought this game was nothing"

"It is."

"Coz you obviously don't play much to get this good" Sokka said sarcastically.

"Never played before in my life" Zuko said tersely.

"Yeah right. Where did you learn to handle a gun so well then? On the streets?" Sokka said, not believing that anyone could be as good as he was and never have played before.

"Pretty much" Zuko answered seriously.

"God all you tattoo freaks are the same" Sokka said, remembering his previous aggravation with Aang.

"What do you mean by that?" Zuko said angrily. "This is a scar"

Sokka glanced at the guy beside him "Oh sorry, it's not you, my sister just picked up this weird guy with these arrow tattoos. Guy had never even heard of an arcade before can you believe that?" he babbled.

"Wait; were these arrows of his a pale blue?" Zuko asked, no longer paying any attention to the game.

"Uh, yeah" Sokka gulped nervously "You got some kind of beef with him?"

"You could say that" Zuko said darkly.

"I knew he was trouble" Sokka said "He attacked me; all along I thought he was some kind of gang member or something. He the one that gave you that scar or something?"

Zuko didn't answer. He took a long and lasting look at the guy beside him and for a moment considered holding him prisoner and using him to lead him to the monk. _It might be nothing though…_ he thought. Kidnapping the guy would tip his hand… but maybe there was a better way. If this guy really knew where the Tibetan was, then all he had to do was follow him, and he would be led right to his prize. "Thanks for the game" Zuko said, grinning wolfishly at Sokka. "I gotta go now, my uncle's waiting for me"

"Right, well it was good shooting with you" Sokka replied, somewhat rattled. "I gotta go too, anyways. Got some things to… take care of back at home" With that he hurriedly walked out of the arcade.

Zuko watched him closely as he left, before swiftly marching over to the coffee show grabbing his uncle and dragging him, tea and all, in pursuit.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"So what do you usually do now?" Aang asked to fill the sudden silence.

"Well this is kinda where I go and read a book." She said, embarrassed. "So what do you want to do?" she asked him.

"Well I have nothing against reading, but how about I teach you some of those martial arts moves?" He suggested after thinking for a moment.

"That sounds great!" she said enthusiastically, secretly looking forward to being able to kick Sokka's butt the next time they fought.

"Before we do anything you have to take an oath." Aang said once he had led them outside. "It's a kind of sacred pledge, which everyone who is trained in our ways takes."

"What does this 'pledge' entail?" She asked nervously.

Aang obviously saw her worried and laughed. "Don't worry, you don't have to become a vegetarian or anything, you just swear to use what you are taught in self defence or defence of others only."

"Oh" she muttered, embarrassment colouring her cheeks. "Well in that case I accept."

"Kinda informal, but it'll do" Aang said grinning. "I trust you wouldn't misuse this."

"How?" Katara asked in spite of herself "I mean, how can you trust me just like that?"

"Well how can you trust me?" he said as way of reply "Call it my intuition, call it wisdom, whatever you want, but you took me - a guy who threatened you in an alley - in to your home, out of compassion. That says a lot about a person to me, I _know _you won't misuse this." His smile was teasing, but his bright grey eyes were serious.

"Fair enough" She replied, for the first time taking a moment to consider how bizarre her actions of the past day really were. "Kicking Sokka's butt from time to time isn't counted as misuse is it?"

"Of course not" He said, his goofy grin growing wider. "Now let's begin!"

With that he began to lead her through the basic steps of a Tai Chi movement. The form required perfect balance, and she blushed as he corrected her stance several times. Before long much to her and his amazement, she had mastered the move. It was simple really; she started in a central position before twisting her weight to one foot and pushing out in front of her with her arms. She then twisted back and repeated the motion to the other side. She felt exhilarated doing it, she could feel her energy flowing and Aang had stopped giving her instructions. Looking around for him she found him sitting quietly watching her.  
"That felt great!" she said, surprised in spite of herself. She was tired, but relaxed, it was nothing like the intense work out she had been expecting.

"You looked great" he said, unaware of the double entendre of his words.

She blushed and looked away. "It wasn't anything like I was suspecting, it was calm and… soothing."

"Yeah, Tai Chi is all about the flow of energy, it's more a mastery of yourself than ways to cripple others. It was commonly used in our meditations, but don't let its calm nature lull you, a Tai Chi master is an opponent who has completely mastered themself. Any attack you launch at them" he made a slow exaggerated punch towards Katara, who quickly twisted and redirected Aang "Can be diverted or even used against you." He smiled at how Katara moved instinctively at his motion.

"So what now?"

"Well training requires sustenance, how about we get something to ea- whoa!"

Katara looked down at herself and saw a thin trail of water following the unconscious movements of her hands. She shrieked in surprise and instantly the water fell to the ground with a soft splash. "I, uh… wow" she mumbled. She didn't know how to feel about her _bending_ it was all so knew and strange to her, yet somehow familiar like it had always been a part of her. To some extent she realised it always had. _But how?_ Her rational mind queried _people can't just move elements…These aren't even the real elements … It's just not possible!_

Her confusion must have been evident on her face, for Aang quickly placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, you can puzzle about it later. Now let's make something to eat."

She abandoned her thoughts and returned her attention to him, giggling slightly. "You know you sound like Sokka"

"Spare me that!" Aang said in mock horror and they both laughed easily, heading back inside for something to eat.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Sokka came rushing back from the mall a look of dark fury obscuring his face. His rage was nothing more than a product of his fear, despite and maybe even because of his relationship with his sister he was very protective of her, and right now he knew Aang was a threat. He had already lost too much of his family, and he'd promised his dad to protect them before he left. He wasn't going to let any of his family get involved in whatever gang wars Aang had been in on the streets. _I was right not to trust him_ he told himself. _He's dangerous._  
He arrived back at the house and rushed inside to see Aang and Katara chatting together. "Katara! Get away from him!" he yelled

"What? Why?" She exclaimed.

Sokka didn't wait for her to move; he kept walking over to her from the door and roughly pulled her away. "Come on" he said, dragging her.

"Are you out of your mind? What is wrong with you Sokka!" she shouted, pushing him off her.

"He's dangerous!" Sokka yelled right back.

"No he's not!"

"Yes he is! I ran into some guy at the arcade who knew him, had a big scar on his face, coz of him" Sokka explained.

"So what?" Katara said pointedly

"Yeah I don't know any guy with a-" Aang began

"Shut up!" Sokka shouted over him.

"What is going on here?" Gran-Gran walked in, seeing Sokka standing aggressively between Katara and Aang.

"It's him!" Sokka said pointing at Aang "He's involved in some bad Gang types, he's dangerous!"

"But Sokka he's a monk, don't you know those markings" Katara said "You know them, right Gran-Gran?" Kanna nodded, but still looked undecided.

"I don't care who he is, or if he's from a lost country or even the moon! He. Is. Dangerous. I promised Dad I would protect you!"

"Protect me from what? I don't need to be protected from Aang"

"Yeah, I never wanted to hurt anyone…" Aang said softly

"Don't lie! You attacked me! You tried to mug Katara and I!"

"Katara, is this true?" Kanna asked

"Well yes, but it wasn't his fault! He was starving and-"

"It was his fault!" Sokka screamed. "And now this other gang guy I ran into knows him. He isn't safe to be around!"

"But I don't know any gangs…" Aang protested weakly

"This guy knew you! And you attacked me once before, with all of that kung fu shit you do, you can't deny that you're dangerous!"

"I didn't mean anyone any harm…" Aang said sadly.

"Sokka!" Katara said angrily, torn, as she watched Aang. She trusted him. She didn't believe he could ever be a danger to her, she didn't know what had gotten into Sokka.

"Perhaps Sokka is right" Kanna said softly. "Katara you have done a good thing for him, you have helped this young man, and while I don't think he is evil, or means us any harm, your brother has a point. You've done enough, it is best he leave now."

"You're making a mistake!" Katara sobbed, an uncontrollable tear rolling down her cheek. "If he is leaving I am going with him! Aang is going to teach me," She ran over to him, and stood beside him against her family. "I need to learn…" she trailed off, not knowing how to tell anyone about her water bending which had suddenly burst into existence when she met Aang.

"Katara, think this through!" Sokka said angrily "What can he do for you? Would you really just run away with him, and leave your family?"

Katara was so tempted to say yes, and just take Aang's arm and run out of the house. She even started to answer "Ye-" but was cut off by Aang.

"Katara" he said quietly. "I don't have a family, I don't have a home. You do. Don't abandon it for my sake. I don't want to come between you and your family"

"Aang…" she said sadly

"I never meant to hurt you" he said.

"I know. Where will you go?" She was hugging him tightly, despite only knowing him a day she didn't want to let him go. It had been the best day she had had in eight years.

"I guess I will try and find a way back to one of the temples." He answered her with forced optimism.

"I'll miss you"

"I'll miss you too"

"Enough with the emotional drama! You've known him a day Katara!" Sokka yelled. "Go on, beat it! I don't want to see you again!"

Casting a long sad look behind him, Aang strode out the door, Appa slowly slinking behind him. He walked sluggishly down the road, as the neighbours watched, having heard the fight and come out to see what was going on. Katara watched him the whole time from their door until he was out of sight, and Sokka stood beside her, his arms crossed and a look of fierce satisfaction twisting his face.

"Katara, you only knew him for a day… you'll feel better-" Her grandmother began, but she wouldn't hear any of it.

"Are you happy now? You don't know what I've just lost, my only chance to- to…" Unable to full restrain her tears of anger and pain, she ran to her room.

"She'll get over him" Sokka said.

Kanna just looked between Sokka and Katara's room forlornly "I hope so."

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Aang walked miserably through the streets of the sprawling metropolis, holding his staff loosely in one hand. He looked aimlessly for anywhere he could call 'home' for one night at least. Appa walked beside him, equally upset, his ears were flattened and his tail drooped. He let out a low pitiful whine, and Aang petted him to try and cheer him up. "I know buddy, I really liked her too"

Suddenly Appa raised his head and one ear; he was listening intently, before he growled and raced into a side street. Aang rushed after him, and was just in time to avoid being seen by the man walking down the other street. Appa growled again, and Aang looked up to see a man with a scar across the left side of his face heading back the way he'd come towards Katara's house. _That must be the guy Sokka was talking about_ Aang thought. Then he focused on what the guy was holding in his hand. He was poorly concealing what looked like a small gun, some sort of large pistol with an elongated clip, although Aang had never seen a gun of its kind before. He didn't have to time to dwell on the new technology as he saw several men following the scarred one's lead, all carrying similar weapons.  
"Appa stay here!" he whispered urgently to his dog. He wasn't going to let these people hurt anyone on his behalf; _I'm not going to become what Sokka despised me for._ His face set in hard lines of determination he began to run swiftly after them, not paying attention to the fact that his feet never touched the ground.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Katara was in the small yard behind the house, practicing one of the moves Aang showed her, when she heard the loud crack of gunfire. Cautiously she slipped inside, and moved across the house until she could see out the front window. There was a man with an angry red scar across half his face with an Uzi held in front of him. "Come out!" he yelled. When nobody did, he strafed his gun across the houses on this side of the street. A man suddenly banged down the door of their house, and roughly pulled Katara outside. She found Sokka and Gran-Gran already waiting out there, and the rest of the neighbourhood assembling in the street.

"So this is your friend?" Katara muttered to Sokka.

"This proves I was right! We should never have taken him in!" He shot back.

"Where is he!" The angry man with the scar yelled. He strode over to Gran-Gran and pulled her away from the huddle of people. "He'd be about this old? Blue Arrow Tattoos? Last Monk from Tibet? Traitor to my family!"

"He's gone!" Sokka said with faked bravado, stepping forward to face Zuko. "Now leave, we don't want any part in your gang wars here!"

"Idiot," Zuko scoffed "This is not about some gang grudge; this is a matter of country and honour! Now where did he go?" He raised his gun to Gran-Gran's temple, and Katara looked on in fascinated horror.

"Who are you?" Sokka asked

"Prince Zuko of the Sozin Dynasty, and you'd do well to remember it! Remember me when our troops come marching in to victory!" He grinned cruelly at them, before cocking the firing pin of his gun. "Now where is the cowardly monk!"

"Looking for me?" Aang remarked from behind Zuko. Instantly he and his troops turned to face him, and he released Gran-Gran to point his weapon at Aang.

"Come quietly, and this doesn't have to get messy" Zuko said.

"Try me" Aang replied, but he was unprepared for Zuko's weapon. The gun rapidly strafed the ground in front of him, kicking up a mass of snow from the impacts.

"I have spent years preparing for this encounter" Zuko said cockily "Training, meditating, and your just a child!"

"I am sixteen!" Aang insisted, and saw how young the man with the scar was "You barely count as an adult anyway"

"Urgh!" Zuko growled "Take him!" he yelled to the soldiers standing by him. The men behind Zuko split into two groups and approached Aang from both sides.

Aang was ready for them this time however, the moment they closed distance on him he leapt into action, literally. He took a huge flying leap to his left, and rolled upon landing. He scythed his leg out as he completed the roll, tripping up two of the men. There was only one left standing and he dropped him with a series of precise strikes with his left hand and elbow to his side. He spun his staff in his right hand and struck the two men struggling to get off the ground, incapacitating them.

The other three men who had been closing in from his right side opened fire on him with their Uzi's. Now knowing what the guns were capable of, he dodged out of the way, with seemingly inhuman speed and agility. An obscuring spray of snow was kicked up from the bullets impacts with the ground, and the sound of ricocheting pings against the houses in the line of fire was clear.

The crowd of people watching at Zuko's gunpoint grimaced as they saw the display. When the soldiers stopped shooting however, there was nothing there, except the bullet ridden houses and ground.

"What-?" Zuko muttered, before suddenly Aang jumped down from the roof behind the soldiers.

Twirling his staff viciously, Aang riposted and in a series of short hooking blows struck his opponents in their sides and heads, incapacitating them all.  
Zuko didn't wait for him to turn and face him; he turned his gun on Aang and fired. Aang dodged again, seemingly knowing where the bullets were headed before they reached him. Zuko only had a few rounds left in his magazine, and dropped the gun as soon as it was spent. Iroh stood behind him watching over the civilians, as Aang Zuko faced off.

Zuko charged him, throwing a series of hard punches and short forward kicks. Aang for his part waved like a read and avoided the majority of his attacks, trying to place himself behind him. Zuko however was aware of his intent, and forced him back with a wide roundhouse kick. Unable to hit the little monk, Zuko's fury intensified. Somewhere behind him something exploded and burst into flames.

Aang's face paled as he saw flames begin to emerge from Katara's house. The soldiers he's taken down were beginning to get back up again and they were herding the terrified residents of this neighbourhood.

Aang looked between them and the burning house, and stood down. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave these people unharmed?"

"Aang, no" Katara said moving forward, but her grandmother held her back. Involuntarily tears welled up in her eyes.

"See ya guys" he said with a fake smile on his face, as Zuko's men grabbed and relieved him of his staff.

"Yeah bye Aang, thanks for coming" Sokka said, somewhat humbled by Aang's actions on behalf of all of them, despite how he'd treated him.

"Take care of Appa for me!" he called, his eyes never leaving Katara's and his smile faded as he was lead away.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

The whole neighbourhood was shaken up after the shooting incident. About twenty minutes after the Dynasty soldiers had left with Aang, the police and fire department arrived. They crowded around the area cataloguing evidence, all the while Katara knew Zuko was getting away with Aang. They had said that the navy had been called, but by the time they arrived Zuko would be long gone.

She had walked down to the beach where she and Aang had gone sledding, and silently looked out over the ocean. There had to be some way she could save Aang, she knew he was more than just a lost monk, and if the Dynasty was after him so badly as to send a prince with an elite team, then he must be trouble for them. For the first time ever Katara had hope that somehow this war could be ended. And maybe, just maybe, Aang was that 'how'.

"Katara" Sokka said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"What!" she turned to face him. "Here to slander Aang some more?" She asked harshly.

"Katara I-"

"No, you didn't think! You see now he's a better person, he sacrificed himself to save us and our neighbourhood! And how did you treat him?" She said scornfully

"No Katara, that's not-"

"Don't tell me that's not what happened! I know you don't like Aang but don't try to stop me from going after him!" She yelled

"That's not what I'm trying to say!" He said abruptly. "What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry."

"Well say that to Aang." Katara scoffed.

Sokka knew he deserved that. "Well that's the plan" he muttered.

"What plan?" she asked, curiosity overriding her anger momentarily.

He pulled out their dad's old revolver and showed it to her, before slipping it back into its holster on his hip. "I figure that we have the element of surprise now,"

"You mean you're going to help me rescue him?" Katara ran and hugged him. "Thank you Sokka!"

"Yeah yeah, I'll help you save your boyfriend" He said, unable to resist teasing her.

"He's not my boyfrie-"

"Sure." He said sarcastically. "Now come on, we gotta get after them. The cops said something about spotting a warship off shore, that must be where Zuko is headed" He ran over to an old tin rowboat, with a small outboard motor, and began dragging it into the surf.

"Hate to rain on your plan there Sokka, but there is no way we're gonna catch a warship in that."

"Well have you got a better idea?" He said, aggravated again.

She didn't answer at first, until she spied a familiar white and brown dog. "Appa!"

The dog barked once and began to run along the beach. "Are we seriously gonna follow that drool monster again?" Sokka asked disparagingly.

Katara grinned wickedly, mimicking his words and attitude from before. "Well have you got a better idea?"

~~ A V A T A R ~~

"This is a fine staff, a priceles relic." Zuko said, standing on the deck of his destroyer. He smirked as Aang was lead aboard from the trade ship Zuko had snuck in on. "It will make an excellent gift for my father, but I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers being raised by monks."

Aang just stared hardly at Zuko, not answering.

"Take him below! His vow of silence can keep him company in the hold until we reach home."

"Yes sir" the soldiers guarding Aang answered.

"Here uncle, make yourself useful and put this in my quarters."

"But I just started my cup of tea!" he protested. Zuko just grunted and left him with the staff. "Here you mind putting this in his quarters for me?" The soldier he dumped the staff with just rolled his eyes, but complied and walked off with the ancient stick, grumbling.

In the corridor leading to the hold, the soldiers shoved Aang along. Two were escorting him from behind, one in front. "So I suppose you've never fought a monk before huh?" Aang said.

"Silence" The guard behind him said, shoving him viciously in the back.

"That was uncalled for!" he protested "I bet I can take you all anyway with my hands tied behind my back. Oh look they are, so now we can find out." He didn't wait for the guard to reply this time; instead he back flipped and brought his hands around in front of him. "Now it'll be even easier."

He flattened himself against the corridor's wall and avoided the guard's immediate attempt to subdue him by hitting him in the back. Off balance and not expecting to meet no resistance to his strike, the guard stumbled forward. Aang grabbed him by the shoulder and positioned himself behind the man, sending him crashing into the guard that had been escorting him at the front.

It all happened in a matter of moments, the third and final guard tried to raise his gun and level it at Aang, but Aang was too fast. One sweeping round house kick later and all the guards were on the floor in various states of consciousness, and he swiftly ran back up the corridor and out onto the deck.  
He stood on the deck for a long moment, considering just jumping overboard and swimming back to shore but discounted the idea. It was probably too far with his hands were still bound in cuffs, and he couldn't leave without his staff. It was the only possession he had left from the monks of old, apart from Appa. He quickly took his bearings and spotted the door Zuko had gone through, and figured it was the best place to start looking. As he ran through the door he didn't hear the lone guard emerge from the hold and shout up to the bridge. "The Monk has escaped!"

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Katara followed Appa as fast as she could, the dog was racing along the shoreline in front of her, and would stop and wait every few moments if he got too far ahead.

"Can you slow this bloody dog down!" Sokka yelled, several yards behind.

"Oh what, you not up for a little running mighty warrior?" Katara said snidely over her shoulder.

"I'm wasted on cross-country, I'm a natural sprinter" He puffed out.

"I've never seen you sprint for anything other than first helpings of Gran-Gran's pot roast"

"You can not under estimate the importance of meat in a man's diet" He said, somehow managing to keep running.

"Nor it's effect on your cholesterol" Katara said grinning. She was so engrossed in her bickering that she didn't realise she had completely overshot Appa, until he started barking like crazy.

"Looks like cholesterol filled Sokka beat the health nut" Sokka crowed, standing with his hand on Appa like he was the finish line for their race.

Katara ignored Sokka, and instead looked around where Appa had led them. They were standing in amongst a large rocky out crop. Somewhere along the way the beach had given way to a tumbling rocky shoreline, and lying in amongst the Ice covered tumble of rocks was a sleek boat. It was foreign, with a graceful curving hull. It looked large enough to hold half a dozen people, with a Cabin built into it and what looked like the broken remains of a mast rising from the middle of the deck, it was cleanly cut about four feet from its base. At the back of the boat there was what looked like an engine of some sorts.

"Sokka look at this!"

"Wow, nice yacht." He said "How did Appa know it was here?"

"No idea, but is there someway we can get it into the water? It'll be our best chance of catching Zuko" Katara said hopefully.

"Yeah that's provided that there is fuel for the engine to run, or that the engine will run, or that there was even an engine in the first place," he said listing all the possible flaws in the boat.

"Just help me get it off this rock Sokka! It looks in pretty good shape, apart from the mast I can't see any damage."

"Yeah you know what, you're right. Well ain't that weird. Now if we get this out to sea and it sinks on us and I drown I will haunt you forever." He said glumly.

"I'd rather go to hell."

"Well your boyfriend will be there pretty soon unless you figure out someway to get this thing off the rock." He said sarcastically.

"I thought you were the one with the plan Sokka?" Katara shot back.

"Hey my plan was to use the rowboat; I have no idea what to do with some leaky yacht, this is your show."

"Fine." She stepped back and regarded the boat. _We could never move that on our own,_ she thought desperately _If only the water was high enough to- That's it! Water bending! _"Sokka, get on the boat."

"What? Why? It's obviously not going anywhere." He said sceptically.

"Just get on their now! Come on Appa!" With that Katara jumped over the rail of the boat and up onto the deck, Appa bounding after her.

"I have no idea what this is going to accomplish" Sokka muttered, but decided he'd humour his sister anyway.

"Now hold on to something." Katara said calmly, while Aang's words ran through her head. _Listen…Feel the waves_ she remembered breathing slowly and deeply with him, and she did the same now, closing her eyes. _Feel the waves…_  
She closed her eyes and focused on the rhythm of the waves as they beat against the shore, the harmony they made with her, the simple flow of energy. She focused on that energy, and gave it her own energy, so that the waves now flowed to her will. _Feel the waves… _  
Beneath her she could feel the energy surge in response, the smooth flow of the water that others would see, painting a picture clearer than her eyes could in her mind. She _was_ the wave beneath the boat at that moment, and the wave was her, and together they rose, and flowed back into the greater pool of energy. _Feel the waves… _  
And as quickly as it had come the wave of energy receded and she drifted with the natural balance of the sea.

"Whoa that was freakish!" Sokka said, breaking through her haze of zoncentration. "I mean, I thought you were freaky before, but how did you know that big wave was going to come right then? That was like psychic! And were you praying?"

"What on earth are you babbling about Sokka?" She said, dazed from her experience.

"Well there was giant wave Katara! It washed over the rocks and lifted the boat up! The boat then kinda righted itself and was pulled out to sea, which is where we are now."

"Whoa" Katara muttered as she saw that they indeed were about a hundred yards out from the shore now.

"I guess I can understand why you were praying though, I mean that was pretty freaky" Sokka said, trying to be comforting.

Katara was just amused however. "You've said freaky like a dozen times Sokka, were you scared?" She asked, putting on a sarcastic motherly voice. "Poor baby"

"It only said it three times" Sokka defended.

"It's ok I understand that you were scared of the big nasty wave" Katara said, still in the patronising tone of voice.

"Was not!" Sokka said. Appa barked in disagreement. "Thanks for backing me up there buddy" He whispered angrily. "Don't give me the puppy dog eyes now! I know you were whimpering like a baby too."

"Have you two finished there or do I need to tuck you in?" Katara asked barely restraining her laughter.

"Very funny Katara." Sokka said clearly not amused. "This is your boyfriend we're trying to save here."

"I told you before, he's not my-"

"-Whatever" Sokka said disinterestedly.

"Urgh! Why don't you make yourself useful and get the engine started?" Katara said, exasperated.

"Aah now there's something reasonable and straightforward that I can do."

"Coz you are a master mechanic aren't you?"

"Sarcasm isn't going to get us anywhere faster" he chided "and I'll have you know I am quite the mechanic."

"Shame you couldn't have figured that out earlier" She muttered, but he didn't hear her.

"Still" Sokka continued his previous statement "I rather doubt this old hunk of junk will run, it looks like it's over a hundred years old." He stood and peered at the engine at the back of the deck. "It doesn't look like there's any way to start it either."

Just then in a stroke of what Sokka insisted was his universally bad luck the engine rumbled to life. Katara just looked at him, smirking, and Appa barked from inside the cabin.

Grumbling again Sokka climbed into the small cabin from the engine and glared at the two of them. "Big deal, it runs."

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Aang was running swiftly through the corridors of the ships main living quarters. He was checking every room as he went. He had overheard Zuko order his uncle to put his staff in his room, and he was searching desperately for it. He turned another corner and came face to face with a guard at the opposite end of the hall. They stared each other down for a moment, like an old western shootout, except Aang didn't have a gun.

In that single moment the guard realised this and levelled his fire arm. Aang leapt over the guards stream of bullets and into the guard, hooking the chain of the handcuffs around the guards neck long enough to choke him into unconsciousness. A quick check of the body led to a pair of keys which undid his cuffs. Aang realized he must have been one of the guards who had been escorting him down in the hold. That meant the whole ship must know he'd escaped by now. He had to get out of here fast.

He quickly moved down another corridor and found a pair of stairs leading higher up in the ship. At the next level there was a group of three doors, one was wide open and lead to a lavish cabin but it was empty of both crew and his staff. He opened the next door and saw the sleeping form of Iroh in an even more lavish cabin. He ducked out as quietly as he could and shut the door behind him. The final door opened to reveal the biggest cabin of the three, but it was Spartan in comparison to the others. There were no decorations apart from a plain double bed, opposite a modest wooden desk. The only other thing to grace the room was a large drape on the wall of the Sozin Dynasty insignia – a twisting black flame against a red field. Of more interest to Aang however was the item leaning up against the desk, his staff. The moment he stepped into the room however, the door slammed behind him to reveal Zuko.

"So I underestimated you monk. But I guess I just get the chance to take you down for myself!"

"Look I just want my staff and then I'll be going" Aang reasoned.

Unfortunately reason was the last thing on Zuko's mind. "I am not letting you leave here, you're mine, monk." With that he launched an aggressive series of kicks and punches. Aang evaded them around the room, flowing with Zuko, sometimes only just narrowly avoiding being hit. Zuko then tried an over ambitious roundhouse kick and Aang slipped under it and behind him. From there he followed Zuko's movements with ease, lightly sidestepping and evading, never allowing Zuko to turn and face him. He struck Zuko a hard blow to the shoulder and jumped back from his position, collecting his staff in the process. He and Zuko stared at each other from across the room. The stalemate seemed to stretch on for hours, but barely an instant later Zuko was charging him once again.

Without thinking Aang raised his staff and swept in front of him. Zuko's eye's boggled as the mattress from his bed suddenly flew towards him from the right side of the room and slammed him into the opposite wall. Aang then swung his staff in a short upward flick and the mattress flew into the roof, slamming Zuko into hard metal again. As Zuko slipped between semi-consciousness he could just make out Aang's form running out of his room and continuing up the stairs.

Aang flew up the stairs in record time, helped by the fact that every few steps he was literally flying. He ended up in the main bridge of the ship. All the crew that inhabited the place stared at him in shock, before he spied his way out. The bridge opened up onto a large raised balcony above the deck, without stopping his mad flight, Aang dashed straight out onto the balcony. However when he reached the edge he hesitates, and that was when Zuko pounced.

Zuko hadn't been incapacitated for long; he had rushed straight up the stairs after Aang and had arrived on the bridge to see him standing at the edge of the balcony. In a mad lunge he tackled the monk, and they both toppled over the balcony edge. The fall was about ten yards, and they separated in mid air, both rolling and smoothly to avoid injury when they hit the ground below them. They were now standing on a large observation deck which opened off the same floor as Zuko's cabin. About another thirty yards below the stretched the deck of the ship, with only its large guns breaking the otherwise flat surface. Aang watched as his staff continued to fall past the observation balcony and onto the deck below. Swiftly he jumped over the edge of the second balcony and swung from strut to strut down to the deck.

Zuko took one look at the distance and rushed inside and down the stairs. Aang was halfway to his staff when he emerged, this time with his gun drawn. Firing at him, Aang was forced to dodge and weave away from his staff, and towards the edge of the boat.

"What is that?" Zuko asked suddenly, looking at something over Aang's shoulder.

Aang turned so he was partially facing whatever it was, and saw a familiar boat moving swiftly past the warship, a short distance away. An unmistakeable bark came from the small boat and Aang smiled "Appa!"

Zuko had recovered from his surprise however and fired another shot at Aang. Aang had barely registers the sound of the shot and tried to move out of the way, but even with his speed he didn't have time enough to react. He felt the bullet graze his leg painfully, and before he even realized where he was, he was toppling over the side of the ship and into the freezing Atlantic below.

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Katara watched in shock from the small boat as Aang toppled into the sea. "Aang!" She cried desperately, "No, Aaaang!"

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Aang hit the water hard. The moment he went under his staff was ripped from his hand and he became aware of the biting cold. His clothes became wet and leaden and he sank quickly into the dark waters. Some where above he fancied he could here someone calling his name…

Everything began to fade; a huge pressure began building in his ears, a pounding that reverberated through him like the voice that carried his name… "Aang!" it echoed through him, even beneath the water "Aaaang!"

Suddenly a massive surge of energy flowed through him, and the last thing he could remember was a possessing feeling of warmth, like the cold had just faded away from his body, or more like he had just faded away from the cold…

~~ A V A T A R ~~

Katara watched in dumbstruck horror at the water where Aang had disappeared below. She wasn't even aware of the young man watching the same spot from his vantage point on the warship, a similar feeling overwhelming him, although for different reasons. A long moment passed, and there was still no sign of Aang, and yet Katara could not look away from the spot he had disappeared, hoping beyond hope that he would reappear. That was when the water started glowing.

A swirling orb of water rose out of the sea and everyone from her and Sokka to Zuko and his Dynasty soldiers alike just looked on in awe and fear. In the middle of that swirling mass of water was Aang and he was glowing. More specifically his eyes and tattoos were, and a strange mask of pain and anger contorted his face. The sphere of water surrounding Aang flattened into a single band, still being suspended by a whirling vortex of air. He then lashed out with the band water in a gargantuan whip, lashing over the deck of the warship, flattening all of the soldiers. A gale force gust of wind followed throwing those foolish enough to attempt to arise against the superstructure of the ship and freezing them. The chilling wind froze the water around the ship and ripped the rudder to pieces.

Seemingly judging his task complete Aang lowered himself down onto the deck of the small boat Katara and Sokka were watching from, and the vortex of wind died down. He closed his eyes, and the harsh white light faded from his tattoos, and they returned to normal.

When he opened his eyes again, Katara was relieved to find them back to normal as well. "Hey Katara, hey Sokka" he muttered weakly "Thanks for coming."

Katara wrapped him in a relieved hug and Sokka approached him somewhat sheepishly. "I guess we owed you" he said "Anything I can do to help?"

"Did you see where my staff went?"

"Uh… Oh there it is!" Sokka said spying it in the water not far away. "But it's in the water…" Appa seemed to notice Sokka's dilemma and ran up behind him and gave him a helpful shove, toppling him into the sea.  
"Holy-!" The rest of Sokka's curse was lost as he took in a mouthful of sea water. He floundered around for something to grab onto and latched onto Aang's staff. Getting over the shock of the freezing water, he quickly swam back to where the boat was waiting and climbed aboard. "I'm just a normal guy, didn't ask for any of this magic, or freezing water crap!" he grumbled.

Katara who had been collecting a towel for Aang grabbed one for Sokka as well. Seeing the question in his eyes she headed him off "I got these supplies from Gran-Gran, did you talk to her before you ran off to help me?"

"Um, no…" he said sheepishly.

"Well when we reach land somewhere I'm sure you can find a phone and call her" Katara said reasonably. "Which reminds me Aang, where are we headed? We can't go back home now."

"Uh North I guess. I'm not really sure of anything anymore. Maybe stopping in Greenland could be fun. Especially since it's not green at all…"

Despite the situation Katara couldn't help but smile. She had a lot of questions for the young monk in light of what happened, she had this feeling that he knew more than he had told her about everything that was happening. She watched him shivering slightly, and exhausted from his ordeal, yet still smiling, and she decided that her questions could wait. "Well then north it is."

* * *

_Author's note:_

_Again I have largely adapted this from the second episode, but this is not meant to be a complete re-hash of the series (afterall that would be rather boring, we already know how the series ends) as this progresses the characters and character relations will develop more and more differently to the show (considering that it's modern times and all) and some of the battles that take place will happen on an entirely different scale here. The Time scale will also happen differently, working with the modern globe things will take longer and You'll see some differences there as well as we move along. Also the progression of the characters learning bending should prove interesting, I have dropped some clues about it, and will slowly build it up as we go along. If you piece everything together feel free to PM me to tell me how you think it will go and who knows what. Don't expect anyone to know just yet though ;)  
_

_Another interesting point of information which will become more relevant in the next chapter is that the current Dalai Llama is called 'Tenzin Gyatso'_, _Do either of those names ring any bells in the A:TLA universe? I also find that the Fire Nation genocide in the show surprisingly accurately reflect the actions (although not the reasons) for the PRC's actions in Tibet in recent years, most notably the 'Silence of the Tibetan Monks' incident._

_*Once again all the martial arts is based off the real deal, and I want to give my regards to a Master Dao (although he'll never read this here) for assisting and demonstrating for me* __So I hope you keep enjoying this and finding the history mixed with Avatar interesting!_

_Oh and Kudos to whoever spots the movie reference!  
_

_As always, please review!  
_

Regards!

~BV~


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